Gwaines Sister 2
by Watch5
Summary: So this is a sequel to Gwaines Sister, where she comes back to Camelot injured after a village raid, the knights try to stop them but end up in a bit of trouble.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi, so I thought I would put the first chapter of the sequel here. Please review, what you like/don't like, also I would love to hear any suggestions and if I can I'll try and include some if they fit.**

Gwaine looked out the window into the clear night, the moon was bright and lit the courtyard with a faint glow. It had been almost six months since Ira had turned up in Camelot, he was starting to wonder if it had actually happened. The door opened behind him and he listened to the footsteps as they crossed the room to join him, it was Merlin.

"You know I was starting to get worried, I couldn't find you anywhere, the others said you were going to join them but hadn't arrived so I went into town and searched all the taverns, you weren't in any of them" he smiled.

"Why did you want to find me?" Gwaine asked, Merlin shrugged.

"You were acting a bit odd today so I thought you might like some company" Gwaine smiled kindly at him, trust Merlin to know when something wasn't right and try to help you. "What's the matter? Do you want to talk about it?"

"It's nothing, it's just..." Gwaine didn't seem to be able to find the right words to complete his sentence.

"Is it about Ira?" Gwaine looked slightly surprised, he honestly hadn't expected anyone else to remember her, well he thought at least it actually happened then. "Everyone knows you've been slightly depressed since she left".

"It's been six months, I thought she would've visited at least once by now".

"Look Gwaine it's natural that you miss her and worry about her, I mean you thought she was dead for ages, she will come back at some point, you've just got to be patient and let her live her own life for a bit first", Gwaine nodded and looked across to Merlin, he was right, like usual.

"You're right" he admitted, "she been fine in the past, I'm sure she can look after herself" Merlin grinned and nodded, he was about to say something else before the door opened again. Percival staggered in.

"I found you" he said a little too loudly, "why haven't you come down yet, we've been waiting".

"I'm just coming" he grinned, thinking this probably was a good time to stop worrying. He looked out the window one last time, a horseman had just entered, it looked like something was wrong as the rider was hunched down, he looked barely able to sit up, a cloud that had just been blocking the moon started to move, the courtyard got brighter and Gwaine saw that it wasn't a he but a she and she looked very familiar.

"It's Ira" he said moving away from the window towards the door, "she's hurt", Merlin hurried to the window followed by Percival thinking he was seeing things, but there was no mistaking it.

"I'll get Gaius" he said.

"I'll get the king" Percival replied and they both hurried out the the door after him.

Gwaine sprinted through the castle down the staircases, through the halls until he was in the courtyard, Ira looked like she was trying to dismount but was too weak. Giving up she let herself fall, having seen this Gwaine ran forward and just caught her before she hit the ground. Looking down at her he realised she was clutching the left side of her stomach. Carefully moving one of her hands away he saw a crossbow bolt deeply imbedded in her. He started down at it.

"Ira" he said quietly, "Ira wake up" a little louder.

"Gwaine" the shout brought him to his senses and he saw Merlin hurrying towards him. "Is she okay?" He asked, he sounded worried, Gwaine could only shake his head, he was lost for words. "We need to get her to Gaius, come on". Without thinking Gwaine followed Merlin back into the castle and up to Gaius' rooms.

Gaius was already moving potions and books off one of the tables.

"Put her down here" he ordered, Gwaine gently laid her on the table. In the light he could see that she was covered in blood. The door opened and Arthur arrived closely followed by Leon, Elyan and Percival, they had all been drinking when Percival had come to tell them the news.

Gaius examined the wound and turned to Gwaine who by now was pale.

"Will she be alright?" He asked quietly.

"I don't know" he answered truthfully, "I will need to remove the bolt first to see if it has pierced anything internally", he then turned to the rest of the room, "but to do so I want everyone out, it is too crowded in here". No one moved, Gaius sighed "I will let you know how it goes". Nodding Arthur and the rest of the knights shuffled out, "you too Gwaine", Gwaine looked up sharply.

"What?"

"It is a very delicate operation, I'm sorry, but there will be nothing you can do". Gwaine reluctantly agreed saying that he would wait just outside the door and demanded that if anything happened he was to be told immediately.

As soon as the door closed Gaius got to work preparing for the surgery.

"Merlin" he called "have you found the potion?" Merlin who was frantically searching through the shelves pulled a bottle out.

"Yes it's..." He looked down, "empty".

"What!? But we're out of..."

"I know, it's fine I can find some more" Merlin sounded confident, Gaius sighed.

"Well then hurry", Merlin ran out the door, while he was gone Gaius he managed to remove the bolt, luckily it hadn't pierced anything, and stop the bleeding, then he partly bandaged up her side and started to make the potion for Merlins return, it was almost ready when Merlin skidded back into the room herbs in hand. He passed the leaves to Gaius, who instantly added them to the mixture, and lifted up the bandage to see the wound.

"Do we need to do it this way?" He asked quietly.

"I'm sorry?" Gaius asked not understanding.

"I could instantly heal it with magic" Gaius shook his head.

"No Merlin, the king would know, he's seen these wounds many times before and knows how long it takes for them to heal". He walked over with the potion and removed the temporary bandages, "hold these" he ordered before he smeared the potion onto the wound. Once they had replaced the bandages properly, Merlin moved her to a bed to one side of the room and went to inform the others how it went.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ok here's the next chapter. Sorry it's a bit short, been busy. Please keep reviewing, it's good to know what you like/dislike also I'm open to suggestions. And thanks to those that have reviewed. Please enjoy.**

Ira slowly opened her eyes, a white ceiling looked back down at her. She was confused she couldn't remember where she was, she tried sitting up but as she was lifting herself up a voice called out to her.

"Ah wait no, sorry you're not allowed to move", a pair of hands gently pushed her back down and a face came into view, a face she recognised.

"Merlin?!" He nodded, "it's good to see a familiar face" she smiled, "what happened?" Merlin looked worried.

"That's what I wanted to ask you" he replied, "you arrived here last night with a crossbow bolt in your side, you've been unconscious for nearly a day". Iras eyebrows lowered in thought.

"Yes I remember, I knew I had to get to Camelot".

"What for?"

"Well apart from this being the only place that was closest and the fact I was dying, to speak to the king I suppose".

"Why?" Merlin asked, Ira who was about to answer started to breathe heavily she suddenly felt incredibly weak. She faintly heard another pair of footsteps walking over and looked up to see Gaius holding a small bowl.

"Stop asking so many questions Merlin, you're wearing her out".

"I'm fine" she tried to say, Gaius just raised one eyebrow in response.

"No you're not now drink this" he commanded passing the bowl to Merlin, who tilted her head up and pressed the bowl to her lips. "Merlin I think you should go and let Gwaine know Ira is awake" he said taking the bowl from him.

"No need" a voice from the door said, Gwaine strode over and sat on the edge of the bed. "What happened?" He asked, Ira sighed.

"Merlin's just asked the same thing. I need to speak to the king, and I'm pretty sure he'll ask that as well, so to stop me having to repeat myself, and save time, go get the king and I'll tell all of you at the same time", Gwaine opened his mouth to say something but thought better of it, he made to stand up but Merlin spoke first.

"I'll do it" he offered getting up quickly, Gwaine watched him walk out of the door. He wasn't gone long before he returned with Arthur, having just been training Leon, Percival and Elyan had come as well. They stood awkwardly in the doorway.

"Well you going to come in and hear what I have to say or not?" Ira asked wearily, they moved into the room and found places to sit, there were a few seconds of silence before Arthur spoke up.

"It's good to see you again, it's just a shame it has to be in these conditions".

"You mean where I nearly die?" She laughed slightly and started to cough.

"You wanted to tell us something?" Elyan said once she had finished.

"Yes, well passing on a message really, the outlying villages on the boarder of Odins kingdom are falling victim to constant attacks from bandits, they would like it very much if the king could sort it out" the knights looked at Arthur.

"Is that how you ended up injured?" He asked, Ira nodded.

"I was travelling to Odins kingdom and stopped near the village of Stonedown, in the middle of the night I was woken by screaming, went to see what was going on and saw the houses on fire, those that put up a fight were being butchered in the streets..." she trailed off.

"But if you weren't in the village how come you were injured?"

"I went to try and help" she answered simply, "took down a couple of them before I got shot, they thought I was dead so left me but I managed to find a horse and this was the first place I thought of", Arthur nodded slowly.

"Is that the only village that has been attacked?" Ira shook her head.

"Greenswood and another I can't remember the name of, they are literally going from one to another, destroying them".

"Why?" Leon asked out loud, not really expecting an answer.

"From what I've heard they're taking the stores and burning the houses but they're also taking the men and some boys. For what, I don't know, but my guess would be he's selling them on as slaves", there was silence.

"Thank you for telling us this, we will leave you to recover" he stood up and walked out followed by Percival, Elyan and Leon. Gwaine however hung back a bit.

"What?" Ira asked, knowing already what he was going to say.

"What! That's all you can say? Why did you have to get involved", Ira looked up at him angrily.

"Would you have stood by and watched innocent people get slaughtered and enslaved?"

"No but..."

"But what? That's different?"

"You were safe and you went and got shot, you could have died".

"So now you're playing the protective older brother, can't say I missed it" Gwaine bit back an angry retort.

"You were gone for nearly six months".

"What did you expect me to do? Pop back every couple of days? Go for a drink like old times get in and out of trouble?"

"No, I just thought...I...I just thought you would have visited at least once since you left" Ira could see that he had been genuinely worried.

"Look, I'm sorry, I know I should have come back sooner, it's just it never seemed like the right moment" Gwaine acknowledged the apology by nodding, there was a slight pause, "so what are they going to do now?" She asked.

"Most likely we'll go and hunt the bandits down, I should probably go and help" Ira nodded goodbye and Gwaine left. She looked tired he thought, it must have been a struggle to get through that conversation. He grimly stepped into the council rooms where, he saw the knights arguing.

"So what's the plan?" He asked loudly, they turned to look at him.

"There isn't one" Leon answered shortly.

"Yet" Arthur added.

"Why not?" They looked around awkwardly.

"Well some of us are...unsure whether she's telling the truth" Arthur said slowly.

"What!? Why would she lie?" Gwaine noticed Leon looking away uneasily, "Leon? You still don't trust her do you?" Leon sighed.

"It's just she hasn't come back in six months and all of a sudden she shows up expecting us to leave for the boarders of Odins kingdom, I'm worried we're walking into a trap".

"With a bolt in her side!" Gwaine fumed, "Arthur, if you don't listen to her, and she's telling the truth, which I believe she is, then you are allowing bandits to roam freely killing innocent people".

"I know, and I can't let that go on".

"Then what are we waiting for? What's the worst that can happen? If we prepare for a trap as well, we can beat them, they're only bandits", Leon nodded.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to be prepared for a trap", the doors opened again and Merlin slipped in.

"So what's the plan?" He asked no one answered, he looked around in disbelief, "you mean you've been in here arguing when people are being robbed, murdered and enslaved, your people, Arthur". Looking slightly ashamed Arthur pulled out the maps.

"You're right, if my peoples lives are at risk, I can't doubt her" there were a few agreeing nods from around the table. "If Ira is right, going by her calculations this will be the next village to be attacked", he pointed to a small dot on the map, "it will most likely be attacked tonight, which means tomorrow night it will be this village" his finger moved along the map to another dot labelled Willowsdale. We can leave at first light which means we will get to the village sometime in the late afternoon, this will give us time to survey the area and find the best defensive positions. Then all we have to do is take down a group of bandits".

They all agreed and went their separate ways to prepare for the next day.


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the next chapter. Please review and thanks for the reviews, and yes CHARLES CHUKU I think Leon is still holding a bit of a grudge. Enjoy.**

The forest was cold and silent, Gwaine pulled his cloak around him tightly, no one was talking, usually it would be him that broke up these long trips with conversation, and if failing that, just talking to anyone that would listen. He didn't feel like that today though, he was still thinking about the moment they were preparing to leave. They had just been loading the horses with their basic provisions, when Ira had stumbled out of the castle fully dressed demanding to come with them. They had obviously said no but still she insisted, if it hadn't been for her nearly collapsing again she probably would've come with them injured side or no injured side. A rustle up ahead of them brought him back to reality, they had all stopped and were listening to see if it continued. The noise was slowly getting closer to them, Arthur quietly drew his sword but before the others had a chance a deers head came into view. Sighing slightly relieved Arthur sheathed his sword.

"Only a deer" he announced ridding on, the others followed.

It was late afternoon when the knights finally arrived at the village of Willowsdale, having encountered no problems they rode into the village and dismounted. It was silent, eerily silent.

"Hello?" Arthur tried calling out, there was no reply. Leon walked to a small house and tried knocking on the door, there was no answer.

"There are people here but they won't come out sire, I think they are afraid" Arthur nodded looking around.

"Hello, I am King Arthur. I have heard about the village raids and am here to help" he shouted, nothing happened, then slowly a door opened. The knights turned to see an elderly man walk out towards them.

"King Arthur?" He nodded, the elderly man smiled broadly. "It is you, you have come" he said before shouting, "it is him, it is the king, he has come to save us!" At first there was silence then doors started opening and the villagers started appearing, some were armed with scythes and spades, a few had old swords and others only pieces of wood.

"Why were you hiding?" Arthur asked the villagers, "did you know you were going to be attacked tonight?" The elderly man shook his head.

"No sire, since the first two villages were attacked, we have lived in fear, hiding at night, praying that it will not be us next, but there is a pattern and as soon as the sun sets tonight we will be attacked". Arthur nodded sincerely.

"I will do everything within my power to put an end to this unneeded bloodshed" he promised, "but to do this I will need the help of every abled person here".

"We will do everything we can to protect our village, sire we are in your debt" Arthur shook his head.

"It is not over yet" then turning to his knights he said, "Elyan, Percival and Gwaine I want you to scout out this area, we also need to find more things to use as weapons, Merlin I want you to organise that, Leon, with me we need to start making a plan". Knowing they had limited time they all hurried away to prepare.

The sun was just setting as they got into position, those that were unable to fight had taken refuge in the forest, Arthur had had to turn away at least three boys aged about eight who were convinced that they would be able to help. Those that could fight, and there were only a few, were in the houses ready to spring out on the, hopefully, unsuspecting bandits. The sun was fully set and tension settled over the village, Gwaine didn't know how long they would have to wait, what was probably only a couple of minutes felt like hours. Finally he heard a noise and peered out from his hiding place. A group of three bandits were sneaking into the village, he remembered what Arthur had said, as soon as you see them attack, he waited for them to pass then giving a yell he jumped out to kill them, but they were gone. He looked around confused, he could've sworn he had just seen them, deciding to go back to his hiding place he turned around a bandit was standing with his sword in the air about to kill him. He just managed to get his sword up in time before it fell, only to be knocked out by one he didn't see.

Elyan could hear the sound of swords clashing, and made up his mind to go and help. He peered out of the door he was hiding behind. It looked clear, silently stepping out he made his way towards where he heard the noise. A shadowy figure stepped out behind him, turning too late they brought the end of their sword down and knocked him out.

Arthur was in the centre of the village when five bandits came running through, he jumped out of his hiding place along with one or two of the villagers to meet them, they managed to dispose of two of them before another group came up behind them, Arthur started to circle around to keep them all in view. There were too many for just him and the two villagers to fight.

"Give up" he heard a gruff voice say, behind him he saw a movement and a figure that he recognised to be Percival.

"To the likes of you, never" he threw back, and Percival attacked. He was leading another small group of villagers, the fighting wore on, Arthur had to admit they weren't bad, they were organised and worked well together. He found himself being pushed back towards one of the buildings. Out of nowhere a great weight landed on him pushing him to the ground. He lay there winded and realised that they were on the roofs, looking across the small area, which was filled with light thanks to the bandits torches, Arthur saw the same thing happen to Percival, but Percival being a lot bigger and stronger than Arthur managed to throw them off.

Thinking that Arthur had been knock out, the bandits ran over to help. Arthur felt someone tugging him up, he looked up to see Merlin, managing to get his legs under control he stood up.

"We've got to go" Merlin said hurriedly pulling him away from the fighting, Arthur stumbled along beside him completely disorientated.

"No what about Percival" he mumbled.

"He'll be fine" Merlin tried to convince him, but at that moment he heard Percival cry out, he looked back to see him clutching his arm, he had been shot and was slowly being dragged down.

"I can't leave my men" Arthur managed to say.

"Arthur you are in no state to fight" he pulled him away further.

"Merlin! Arthur!" Merlin looked up to see Leon running towards them.

"Leon!" He greeted him gratefully, "we have to get Arthur out of here".

"What happened?" He asked.

"I think they knew we were going to be here" a shout came from behind them, "Leon you have to get the king to safety" Merlin urged quickly him passing him over.

"But what about you?"

"I can create a diversion, but you have to go now!" Leon still looked hesitant, "go now!" He nearly shouted. Leon took Arthur and started to practically drag him away, around a corner. The shout came again slightly louder, Merlin turned to see a bandit running towards him, he fled in the opposite direction to Leon and Arthur, trying to outrun him, but he didn't know where he was going and somehow ended up back in the centre of the village surrounded by bandits. By now the fight was over, looking around Merlin could see that they were piling up the dead bodies. Merlin thought about using magic, he could easily stun them all, he reached within himself for his store of magic, preparing to send it out he slowly raised his hands. The bandits were closing in on him, he closed his eyes.

"Merlin" he heard a shout his eyes flew open and locked onto Gwaines, and then nothing, his world went black.

Gwaine watched as Merlin fell to the ground, shouting as many threats as he could think of he tried to struggle free of his captors, but was punched in the face and stomach for his attempts.

"Bring them over here" the command cut across all noise and silently the bandits started dragging forward the survivors. They were forced to kneel in a line as the man in charge walked down it examining them. He looked at the villagers first.

"Well this is a nice treat" he remarked cruelly, "they are all strong and healthy looking, they will make perfect slaves" his voice was low and quiet but somehow seemed to echo around the village. "But where are the women and the children?" He beckoned forward a bandit "I want you to take a couple of men and search the surrounding area, I want them here before midnight", whilst he was talking his eyes roamed up the line to where the knights were. "Oh, on second thoughts don't bother" he walked towards them. "Knights of Camelot, it is a honour to finally be...acquainted with you".

"The honour is all yours I can assure you" Gwaine said struggling against the rope that held his hands behind his back.

"And so polite".

"You don't seem surprised to see us" Elyan commented.

"Oh that, Sir Knight, is correct, I'm not surprised and do you know why?" Elyan stayed silent, "no answer? I'm not surprised because someone told me you would be here".

"Who?" He asked, the leader beckoned forward another guard, this one however was dragging a small figure. It was one of the boys Arthur had sent away.

"You see as we were preparing to raid this village, we found him wandering about, a small interrogation later and he told us that King Arthur and his knights were here. Of course we didn't believe him but, just in case we changed our attack slightly, and well it worked. Although I am disappointed that the king isn't here", he looked around to see if he would magically appear, but he didn't. "Anyway what does that matter, I have you, and with you I can ransom you" he ginned and his eyes fell on Merlin who was still knocked out. "Just maybe not you, kill him I don't want him slowing us down" with that he turned away. Taking out a knife a bandit stepped forward.

"Wait stop!" Gwaine shouted, the leader turned and faced him, "you can't kill him". He looked from side to side.

"I think you will find I can" he sneered.

"But...but he's the kings personal manservant".

"So?"

"So the king will pay a lot of money for his return" the bandit thought for a moment and a greedy look settled on his face.

"Very well, if you are so keen for him to live, you will carry him. But be warned if you, or him when he wakes up, does not keep up I will kill you both" Gwaine nodded to show he understood.

They were all hauled to their feet, Gwaines hands were untied then tied in front of him, he picked up Merlin carefully and followed the others out of the village.

Leon didn't know what to do, he had got Arthur out of the village and was deciding whether to return for his friends or get Arthur to Camelot then return for them. He had followed them silently out of the village back to the bandits hideout, Percival was injured and being supported by Elyan and Gwaine was carrying Merlin who was unconscious, the bandits hideout turned out to be an abandoned watch tower about a mile from any other village. There was no way he and Arthur were going to be able to take that on their own, racing back to where he had left Arthur, he made up his mind. It's just under a day to travel back to Camelot, if they ride hard they could get there sooner, get some more horses and men then return to free the others. As soon as he found two horses he and Arthur raced back to Camelot.

Ira was up and walking around the castle. Her side, even though it wasn't fully healed, was healed enough for her not to be stuck in bed. Hearing the clatter of horses she walked over to a window wondering if perhaps they were back yet, looking down she saw Arthur and Leon, she started to panic, why were they back and not the others? Racing down to the courtyard she bumped into them just as they were entering the castle.

"What happened?" She demanded.

"They've been taken" was the only reply she got, they started to walk away but she followed them.

"What!?"

"This doesn't concern you" Leon said.

"Doesn't concern me! I was the one who told you about the raids, and if you hadn't noticed my brother was amongst you when you left, so I think it does concern me".

They had walked into the council rooms, Arthur started pulling out maps. Gaius walked in.

"Sire you sent for me, where's Merlin?" He asked noticing it was only them in the room.

"He was caught along with Percival, Elyan and Gwaine, we've come back for fresh provisions and men".

"Sire I am sorry to say that that's not possible".

"Why not?"

"After you had left, those that stayed behind decided to go hunting with Lord Venatus".

"When will they be back?" Arthur asked trying not to scream with frustration.

"A few days".

"I. Don't. Have. A. Few. Days".

"I can come" Ira spoke up.

"We can't take the tower with just three people" Leon said.

"Well if anything, the less people the better, that way we can pass undetected" Arthur had sat down.

"She's got a point" he admitted.

"But she's injured", Arthur looked at Gaius who sighed.

"Normally I would say no, but, this is a dire need, I believe her side is healed just enough to go if she is needed".

"My lord you can't be serious?"

"What other choice do we have?" Arthur said.


	4. Chapter 4

**So here's the next chapter, sorry it took so long, major writes block. Please review, I love hearing your thoughts and feel free to suggest stuff. Enjoy.**

They rode their horses hard towards Willowsdale, skirting around the village they followed Leon to the tower. It was tall, crumbling and swarming with bandits. Having left their horses near the village, so not to draw any attention, they crept forward and hid behind some rocks.

"I can't see a single area that isn't being watched" Arthur whispered.

"That's because there isn't one" Ira whispered back, "Arthur isn't this an old watchtower belonging to Camelot?" She asked.

"Yes why?"

"Didn't all the towers have a secret tunnel to allow a messenger out if they were under siege?" Arthur looked across at her confused.

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Uh...doesn't matter, can't we use it to sneak in?" There was silence as both Arthur and Leon thought through her suggestion.

"It would allow us to get in undetected" he allowed, "but they are bound to know about them and have some sort of watch on them".

"The watches will change though" Leon said, "if we know the times they change then we could get past them". They fell silent as two bandits started to walk towards them, crouching further behind the rocks they watched them pass.

"Could we perhaps continue planning at a much safer distance" Ira suggested.

"Why? Scared?" Leon smirked.

"Not at all, just don't see the point of getting caught before we have a plan" she retorted. They walked in silence back to the horses, occasionally Arthur caught Leon and Ira glaring at each other.

"Right that's it" he stopped suddenly, "what is the matter with both of you?" He asked angrily.

"Nothing" they both replied through gritted teeth.

"Well I can tell it's something because, Leon you are a terrible liar and Ira...ok I can't actually tell if you're lying but the way you are behaving is giving it away", they both stayed silent so he continued his rant, "we are here to rescue our friends, which means we have to work together, and we can't work together if you two behave like children" he paused, "so...so sort it out" he started walking again, Leon and Ira watched him walk past them then followed, not speaking a word to each other.

When they neared the village again, she had overheard someone call it Ash hall or something similar, they tried to work out a plan, but apart from the one she had suggested earlier nothing was coming to mind. Leaning against a tree Ira ignored whatever Arthur and Leon were saying and watched the activities within the village, until two familiar figures caught her eye.

"Hey, hey you two" she called back to Arthur and Leon, "come here".

"What is it?" Arthur asked, she pointed the two figures out.

"What about them?" Leon said.

"They're the two that we saw leaving the tower" she answered.

"How can that help us?"

"Couldn't we question them about the watch changes?"

"Are we even going with that plan?" Leon asked Arthur.

"Well it is the only one we've got so far and it could work quite well", they watched as the two figures entered a building. "Where are they going?"

"By the looks of it the tavern" Leon answered.

"Good" Ira muttered.

"How is that good?"

"Alcohol" she replied with a slight grin, "nothing gets anyone talking better than alcohol".

"So it's settled" Arthur said, "two of us will go into the tavern and get the bandits talking, find out about the watch changes so we can work out the rest of the plan", both Leon and Ira nodded.

"So Arthur and I will go, Ira you stay here and watch the horses".

"What? No way, for a start Arthur will be recognised and secondly you can't just stroll into a tavern wearing armour and bright red capes and expect people to tell you what you want".

"We can take the armour off and wear cloaks" Ira was shaking her head.

"Arthur will still be recognised, and because you came and saved a village, people will be looking out for you, I'll go it'll be less conspicuous". Arthur looked uneasy.

"You shouldn't go on your own, at least take Leon with you if things go wrong" he said, Leon looked as if he was about to argue, "that's an order" he added on.

They were sitting at the bar with their hoods pulled up, Ira was drinking, Leon had a drink but hadn't touched it since they sat down. Ira put her mug back down and looked across to Leons.

"You gonna drink that?" She asked, Leon shook his head and pushed the mug towards her, she took it and asked, "I know you're strict but I didn't think you would be one to turn down a drink, or at least that was the impression I got last time I was in Camelot", the only reply she got was a shrug and a noise that wasn't quite a grunt. She looked across at the two men they were watching, they were still deep in conversation with a group of people.

"They'll be there for a while, so come on why turn down a good chance to drink?" There was a pause, "ok not going to answer that, how about why do you have a problem with me? You can't still be holding a grudge from when I knocked you out, so what is it?" Finally getting his attention Leon turned to face her.

"I don't have a problem with you" he said.

"Well you could've fooled me, is it the fact that I'm of a lower birth than you?" Leon turned slightly red.

"No" he answered.

"Then what?"

"I don't want to talk about this now" he said firmly, "can we just focus on what we need to do".

"Alright, no need to get so stressy, just trying to start a bit of a conversation with you, got nothing else to do" she muttered into her mug, Leon sighed.

"I'm not drinking because I can't" Iras eyebrows rose slightly, "I've never been able to, I get too nervous, I know I can't miss anything and I'm worried if I do drink, I'll miss something" he admitted quickly, she nodded in reply and then nudged him. Looking over he saw one of the bandits get up and make his way across to the bar. He leant against the bar about two seats away from them. Ira seizing the chance to get him talking, nodded to him.

"Afternoon" she greeted, he nodded back. As the barmaid brought over his drink he reached into his pocket and cursed, the barmaid not handing over the drink waited for his money. "Here" Ira said handing over a coin, taking it the barmaid put down the mug and walked away. The bandit looked across at them.

"I suppose I owe you thanks", thankfully he had already drunk quite a lot already and was in a chatty mood.

"I'm in a generous mood" she replied casually, "so you local?" She asked, the man shrugged.

"Fairly, I'm down at the watchtower, you?"

"Just travellers passing through, is that the abandoned one?"

"Yeah, it's our hideout" he claimed proudly, "although" he added quietly, "we won't have much need for it much longer".

"Oh, why's that?"

"We're about to get paid a hefty sum on some ransoms" Ira laughed.

"Yeah, sure you are" the bandit looked slightly taken back.

"We are" he exclaimed, "from the king no less, we got a couple of his knights in our cells" he nodded.

"And they're underground? well guarded? you know what Camelot knights are like", the bandit laughed.

"I do, they're under ground in the lowest ones, at least four guards down there at any one time, more guards guarding the halls, guards on lookout all over the place, and the trick is to keep them changing so they are alert, for example we change every twenty minutes".

"Good well I hope you get the money, but we have to get going, long road, you know" the bandit nodded and walked back to his table as Ira and Leon left the tavern and made their way back to Arthur.


	5. Chapter 5

**First of all I am so sorry about how long it took to update, other things just kept building up so I had to put it on hold, but anyway this is the penultimate chapter so please review I really like hearing your thoughts (they literally make my day) and enjoy.**

"Well that was easy" Arthur said after they told him what had happened.

"Too easy perhaps?" Leon mused out loud.

"Not really" Ira answered, "he's an idiot, pretend you don't believe them and they'll say anything to make you believe otherwise".

"So he could be making it up?" Ira shrugged.

"Why would he? We know they've got the others, and he wanted to show off, also his body language said he was telling the truth", Leon nodded in agreement.

"So what do we do now? we have all the information", Arthur thought for a moment before realising a flaw.

"We have a problem, we can get into the tower easily enough, but when we're in there the layout won't allow us to sneak around unnoticed, or at least on the level where the tunnel ends".

"So we need a distraction to remove any bandits on that level" Ira stated.

"We've already decided we're going to take the tower from the inside" both Ira and Arthur nodded, "but to do that we need the rest of the knights" again they both nodded, "if, say, I allowed them to 'capture' me, that might draw the rest of them out". Ira was shaking her head.

"If you got captured, they'd just throw you in with the rest of them. So if we were to use your idea it'd have to be Arthur who gets caught".

"Why?" Leon asked angrily, not liking the idea of his king putting himself at risk.

"Bandits like to gloat, and who better to gloat over than the king himself, plus it would give us more time".

"But they'll probably just kill him, if it was me they'd use me for a ransom", Ira put her head in her hands.

"They won't kill him, he's too valuable alive".

"How do you know that though?" Ira let out an exasperated sigh.

"Because I have dealt with people like this before, all they care about is money" Arthur, who had been listening to the conversation spoke up before it turned into another argument.

"She's right" he admitted. "If I go then we stand more chance of rescuing them", Leon looked as if he wanted to argue.

"But what if they just throw you straight into the cell?"

"I can demand to speak with their leader, and, if I put up as much of a fight as I can then hopefully that'll draw out the rest of them", there was silence.

"Looks like it's decided then" Leon said.

Arthur watched as Leon and Ira took their positions by the tunnel entrance, the two bandits looked bored. Seeing the signal from Leon he slowly crept forward, they had agreed he should be spotted by some bandits and then run across in front of the ones guarding the tunnel to draw them away. He heard the shout, looked around to check he had been noticed and then ran. He saw the two guarding the tunnel take up the chase, go now he thought as he felt himself be tackled to the ground.

As soon as the bandits were out of sight, Leon and Ira jumped over the rocks they had been hiding behind and sprinted to the tunnel entrance. Entering it they started to make their way silently through the darkness until they saw a light ahead of them. Creeping up to the door, Leon carefully looked through the bars that were letting the light through.

"What can you see?" Ira whispered.

"A lot of bandits" he answered, in the distance they could hear cheering, it was getting louder.

Arthur looked up at the ruin, part of the the top had crumbled away and there was ivy growing up the sides. He was pushed forward roughly and started to walk again. The rope was digging into his wrists as the dragged him into the tower and through the corridors. They entered a large room, someone must have gone on ahead as the leader was sitting in a large ornate chair waiting for him.

"Well, well, well" he said as he stood up, Arthur was pushed to his knees, "if it isn't Arthur Pendragon, king of Camelot".

"I have come to demand that you free my knights" he said loudly, looking around he noticed the room was slowly filling up with more and more bandits.

"Ok" he answered, Arthur looked up confused, "once you have paid the ransom for them".

"Free me and my men and as soon as I reach Camelot I will give it to you", the leader smirked.

"I know how Camelot works, I know I don't need to free anyone to get the ransom. Your lords will pay it, and now I have their king they will pay more, take him away". With that Arthur was dragged from the room.

Merlin looked around, he wasn't sure how long it'd been since the village was attacked, it could've been hours or days, without a window he wasn't even sure if it was night or day time. He had come round as they were being locked in this small dark cell, and after he had patched Percival's arm up as best as he could there had been some talk about trying to escape but since then no one had really spoken. The sound of a door opening and closing echoed up the passage.

"That better be food, I'm starving" he heard Gwaine mutter without opening his eyes. They heard three pairs of footsteps stop on the other side of the door, it screeched open and the small room was flooded with light, they covered their eyes from the glare. A body was pushed into the cell and the door was slammed shut again.

"Arthur!" Elyan exclaimed getting to his feet, "what happened? Why are you here? Were you caught?" Everyone else stood up.

"No I'm here to get you lot out" he explained quietly.

"And how are you going to do that? You're in here as well" Percival asked, smiling Arthur shook his head.

"I'm the diversion" in the distance a door slammed open and they heard a muffled yell.

"Who else is here?" Merlin asked as they heard footsteps running down the passageway, a key was being turned in the lock.

"Leon and..." The last name was cut off as the door screeched open and light flooded in again, Ira was standing in the doorway, carrying six swords and a big grin on her face.

"Hey" she greeted them loudly, after a moment of shock the knights and Merlin started piling out and taking the swords she offered them. Before Arthur could leave however Gwaine pulled him aside.

"You bought Ira?!" He whispered angrily so no one would hear him.

"Look Gwaine I'm sorry, I wouldn't have normally but there was no other choice" Gwaine was about to reply before Ira called out for them.

"Are you two coming or not?" With one last glare at Arthur, Gwaine walked out of the cell and took a sword from Ira, Arthur followed and took the last one.

"Where's Leon?" He asked.

"Gone to free the villagers and anyone else he can find, he said he'll join us when he does". They started making their way through the passages taking out anyone they saw, but Arthur realised this wasn't even half the number he had seen earlier. Where is everyone? He thought charging through another door and quickly dispatching another bandit. Before they knew it they were outside and facing a wall of bandits. They were surrounded with no way out.


	6. Chapter 6

**So here it is, the final chapter. I'm sorry it's so short but there wasn't much left to say. I hope you have enjoyed reading this as much as I have enjoyed writing it, both of them. And thank you.**

Merlin looked around, no one was moving.

"Give up" he heard the leader snarl, "and I won't kill you".

"I could say the same to you" Arthur retorted, the bandits started laughing.

"You're outnumbered, you have no chance of beating us". Arthur looked back to his knights, they nodded knowing what he was asking them, and with a yell he ran straight at them. He was right they were badly outnumbered, each knight was fighting at least two bandits. Merlin, even though he had been given a sword stayed to the side, knowing in order to help he had to keep an eye on everyone. He sent blast after blast of magic to subtly help them but he could see it wasn't enough, especially as he needed to keep Arthur from finding out his true identity.

The knights began to tire, no matter how many they managed to kill more just took their place, they were slowly being pushed back towards the tower, their defeat looked imminent. Managing to regroup they prepared themselves for one final attack. Gwaine felt a jolt of panic as he looked around and realised Ira was missing, he scanned the battleground, but with so many people he couldn't see her.

"Gwaine!" the shout brought him back to reality and he managed to defend himself from a bandit that had tried to sneak up on him. He had to stay focused he thought. He turned to Arthur and heard the shout. But it wasn't Arthur, he looked across to the bandits and realised it wasn't them either, they looked just as confused.

Another shout echoed across the battlefield, instantly out of the forest swarmed the villagers that had also been taken captive, they were being led by Leon and by his side, Ira. The knights charged once again into the mass of bandits with renewed strength. And with the help of the villagers it was over quickly with very few casualties.

Ira was sitting, leaning against a tree. It was a tall willow and the soft breeze was making it gently move. She smiled to herself, the sun was slowly setting, in the distance she could hear the faint rumble of a waterfall along with the noises of the forest, she could also hear the knights if she listened hard enough, she felt content. Looking back down at her side she saw she had managed to stop the bleeding, but that won't stop the poison she thought. Knowing what was coming she had wanted to be alone, she knew she owed Gwaine so much more, or at least a proper goodbye, but she couldn't bring herself to do it.

She remembered back to when she had been young and growing up in Carleons kingdom, how happy she had been. To when her father died and they were cast out, her years after with Gwaine travelling through kingdom after kingdom, the fun they had had, losing him and having to find her own way, and by some miracle finding him again. She had met the legendary King Arthur, that was all she had come to Camelot for, to see if what they were saying was true. She hadn't believed it at first but they had been right, he was truly a great king, probably the best there ever was, maybe ever will be, and now she had met him she could die in peace. She rested her head back on the tree and felt the poison take it's final hold. Her eyes closed and her world went black, she looked to be only sleeping, with her sword in her hands and a faint smile on her lips.


End file.
